Ibrahim Hassan: Al Masry know Mounana well

Al Masry director of football Ibrahim Hassan has confessed that Gabonese team CF Mounana is a ‘good side’, insisting that their heavy defeat to Al Ahly in CAF Champions League was not an indication about their real worth.

Al Masry surged to the CAF Confederations Cup round of 32 after knocking out Tanzania’s Simba after a positive 2-2 draw in Dar es Salaam before settling for a goalless draw at home.

Hossam Hassan’s team have been drawn against Mounana who relegated to CAF’s second tier tournament after losing to Al Ahly with 7-1 aggregate result.

“Mounana is a good side, and their loss to Ahly is history. They can’t be judged by those defeats as this is a totally different game in a different competition now,” Ibrahim Hassan told CAFonline.com.

“During the draw, I was praying to be drawn against them [Mounana] because we know them well now after watching their games against Ahly, and we got that. But this doesn’t mean we are going to underestimate them, on the contrary we respect them well.”

The Portsaid-based side will line up against Mounana on April 6 in Libreville, before facing them in the return leg on April 18 in Egypt.

“We want to go as far as possible in the competition, so we have to win regardless of our opponents. At this stage all the teams are good and we have to be well prepared for both legs. I’m positive we will have a place in the group stage.”